


After Newsnight

by Spazzo47



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 09:25:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8200012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spazzo47/pseuds/Spazzo47
Summary: Set right after Newsnight with Will McAvoy, MacKenzie wants to offer friendly comfort to Will but learns a secret he's been keeping.





	

“Well, I guess it’s just us now.” 

Mac’s heart broke hearing these words. He needed to get off the air immediately. That was her first concern. It wasn’t that she feared him saying something wrong, she wanted to make sure he didn’t make himself too vulnerable and he was on the brink of that. He’d never forgive himself if he showed the slightest human emotion on the air. 

“Get Terry to the desk, now!”

“What do you want him talking about?”

“I don’t care, we need to get Will off the air.”

Will made the correction and played the Trayvon Martin 911 recording in its entirety, signed off and sent the broadcast over to Terry in DC. Then he walked back to his office. Mac didn’t notice Will leave the studio while she and Don switched places and the crew offered their traditional “good shows”. As soon as she could, Mac went to Will’s office hoping to offer him words of comfort. But he was gone. A crewmember told her he had made a phone call and just left a couple minutes ago. Mac hoped to catch him outside, but the elevator just wasn’t fast enough, or maybe he was too fast. She stood outside looking for him and when she saw his car pull away, she shook her head. 

Her phone rang and she had to get back upstairs. One of the assistant producers was working on an assignment and had a question. Mac didn’t want Will to be alone, not now. He had all these unresolved feelings and he needed to know that he was expected to take a few days off. Of course he knew what he was entitled to, but she knew he’d rather stay here and work and that wasn’t good for him. She would put her foot down and take him to the airport. She didn’t even have to think “if she had to,” she knew she would have to or he wouldn’t go. Mac dealt with the AP and with other random questions that come in at the end of every broadcast. It was an hour before she got to her office, everyone gone, Elliot’s crew coming out of the Control Room. Mac sat at her desk and called Will. He didn’t pick up. She realized she didn’t know what medications he had access to. He mind went back to finding him lying in his bathroom, blood everywhere. He did that because of work. This was his father, and he was alone. She made a decision. 

It didn’t take long for Mac to get to his apartment. The doorman didn’t want to let her in the elevator, but he couldn’t keep her out either, especially after she recounted finding him after an overdose. He tried to give Mac one more warning about going up there, but she insisted. She got to his floor and knocked on his door. When he didn’t answer, she yelled through the door. Finally, dressed in a robe with Nina Howard standing behind him, he opened the door. Immediately Mac put her head down, not wanting to see what was in front of her. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry Will. I wanted to check on you, make sure you’re alright. And obviously you are.” Mac left his apartment feeling ill. 

Will turned to Nina ready to invite her to finish what they started, but she looked at his face and stopped him. “Go after her. I’ll find my way out. It’s okay Will. I don’t know what happened, but it’s okay. I will always be a sure thing for you.”

“Nina you don’t have to leave. She shouldn’t have come. I am okay.”

Nina gave Will a quick kiss on the cheek and said “Go, find her.”

Nina went to the bathroom and took a shower wondering why she was even here. She’s little more than Will’s booty call. He convinced her that he was over Mac, even though she memorized the voicemail that proved he wasn’t. She didn’t know what happened to cause that scene, but it was obvious to her that Will needed Mackenzie and Nina was just a warm body for the night. 

Will wanted to punch something. He invited Nina over because he liked her. She was smart, funny, sexy as hell. And most importantly, things weren’t complicated with her. After a show, he’d call her, they’d get some drinks and then come back here. The next morning she’d be gone and he’d be relaxed. He knew that Mac would want to comfort him and he knew that he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to give what Mac would want to take. She knew him and the situation. Nina would let him forget. Mac would make him remember. Even thinking about Mac made him certain that he made the right choice for companionship tonight. 

Will finished getting dressed and heard the shower turn off. He went in the living and sat. When Nina came out, she didn’t see him and she walked toward the door. Before she could open it, she heard his voice, “My father died tonight. It happened during the show.”

Nina stopped and turned to look at Will. “I’m sorry Will.”

Will shook his head, “I wasn’t close to him, it was a surprise and that was it. Mac knew about it and I guess, she wanted to make sure I was alright.”

“Are you okay?”

Will nodded his head. “Yeah. And I’ll let her know. She’s going to insist that I take time off and go to his funeral.”

“You should. You’ve got some siblings in Kansas don’t you?”

“Nebraska. And yes. I should go see them. Nina, I don’t want to be alone tonight. Will you stay?”

Nina nodded her head and for the rest of the night, Will didn’t think about Mac or his father. In the morning after Nina left, he made arrangements to go to Nebraska for the funeral and then emailed Mac his plans. He didn’t want to answer any of the questions she wouldn’t ask. How long has this been going on? Why Nina? On a night when he was that affected by something that happened, why would he call Nina? 

He knew the answers of course and he knew the answers would hurt her. He had to laugh a little. As often as he’s hurt her since she’s come back into his life, he didn’t realize that’s what he was doing until after. He could always justify what he did. What’s a better way to impress a date than to have her come to where he anchors the news? Bringing Brian in to write the story was strategic. The ring would keep him from hurting her by making her think that he wasn’t serious about her. But deep down, he knew that he had intentionally hurt her. It wasn’t his plan, but it was a side effect that he didn’t mind. This time he did mind, he’d give anything to not hurt her. That’s why she didn’t know that he’d been seeing Nina. 

He waited until he knew that she would be in her 4:00 rundown meeting to call. He didn’t want to talk directly to Mac, but he felt like she deserved some answers.   
Mac saw the voicemail from Will after her meeting. She knew that he took a cowardly approach. “Hi Mac, it’s me. I know you were concerned about me and I’m sorry that you saw what you saw. Nina and I have been dating for a few weeks so I asked her to come over. I am on a plane now to see my sisters and brother. I’ll be back in a few days.”

A few weeks. They’ve been together a few weeks. Of course he had the right to date her, or anyone else he wanted to, that wasn’t a question. And at least this time he wasn’t broadcasting it to the world and the studio. Maybe he wasn’t trying to not hurt her this time. But it did. It did hurt. When Will told her that his father died, Mac wanted to reach out to him and put her arms around him. And she may have if she wasn’t given a warning about coming back. This dagger in her heart isn’t Will’s fault. But it doesn’t stop it from hurting. She should have been there as a friend. She would have been happy to be there as a friend. But she fucked everything up when she told him about her affair with Brian.


End file.
